Drop the jargon. Write:
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 10:10 am
Just to be clear: of course, not every tweet is meant for everyone. We get that. Every business or ideological Twitterer has their own target audience. And tweets about sport fishing rarely get clicks from followers who like ballet. But what should a click-ready tweet contain in any case?
1. It should be clear what your tweet is about
A tweet like this:
“I didn't want to know: Bit.lyAbCdEf”
Leaves the reader so much to guess that he skips it. He doesn't have that much time. The writer may think that riddles make the reader curious. But every good riddle has a context. And too little context in a tweet leads to a kind of reverse analysis paralysis : the tweet gives the reader too little insight into what will be in the piece to which the tweet links. In short: no one clicks. It is very different if it says:
“Rutte: 'I had heard something about the fraud at SNS Real Estate. But I didn't want to know': Bit.lyAbCdEf”
2. Your target audience must understand that your tweet is intended for them
Logical, you think. But my target audience will understand that by themselves: after all, they see what the subject is? You would think so. But suppose you have a site for people who are taking their first steps in WordPress. If you tweet this:
“10 Awesome Comment Plugins for WordPress: ow.ly/QwErTy”
Are many beginners already so intimidated that they don’t even dare to click? Put yourself in their shoes. What was it like for you when you first started with WordPress? Sure, that was six years uae phone data ago, you’ve grown into it by now. But we all started somewhere. And we’ve all been at our wits’ end. At some point. Dig into your memory and remember how on that cold weekend in 2007 you just couldn’t figure out how to create a link. Or where on earth to put the Google stats code. And imagine how it felt, as a child, to arrive in a country where you didn’t understand the language.
“Just got a WordPress site? Want more comments? Read this: ow.ly/QwErTy”
3. Your tweet should make your target audience very curious
Not a little bit. We are all too busy for that, online. But very. Very curious. And better yet: irrepressibly curious. So that we click, even when we don't have time. Even when we are about to leave the house. Even when the taxi meter is running - we really have to read this first.
1. It should be clear what your tweet is about
A tweet like this:
“I didn't want to know: Bit.lyAbCdEf”
Leaves the reader so much to guess that he skips it. He doesn't have that much time. The writer may think that riddles make the reader curious. But every good riddle has a context. And too little context in a tweet leads to a kind of reverse analysis paralysis : the tweet gives the reader too little insight into what will be in the piece to which the tweet links. In short: no one clicks. It is very different if it says:
“Rutte: 'I had heard something about the fraud at SNS Real Estate. But I didn't want to know': Bit.lyAbCdEf”
2. Your target audience must understand that your tweet is intended for them
Logical, you think. But my target audience will understand that by themselves: after all, they see what the subject is? You would think so. But suppose you have a site for people who are taking their first steps in WordPress. If you tweet this:
“10 Awesome Comment Plugins for WordPress: ow.ly/QwErTy”
Are many beginners already so intimidated that they don’t even dare to click? Put yourself in their shoes. What was it like for you when you first started with WordPress? Sure, that was six years uae phone data ago, you’ve grown into it by now. But we all started somewhere. And we’ve all been at our wits’ end. At some point. Dig into your memory and remember how on that cold weekend in 2007 you just couldn’t figure out how to create a link. Or where on earth to put the Google stats code. And imagine how it felt, as a child, to arrive in a country where you didn’t understand the language.
“Just got a WordPress site? Want more comments? Read this: ow.ly/QwErTy”
3. Your tweet should make your target audience very curious
Not a little bit. We are all too busy for that, online. But very. Very curious. And better yet: irrepressibly curious. So that we click, even when we don't have time. Even when we are about to leave the house. Even when the taxi meter is running - we really have to read this first.